Naturalisation application processing timelines (only)

[Sean J]

I have gotten my approval within 26 days. I called council for ceremony but they didn't have any update when they search my HO ID -
Please guide to whom should i contact ?

Regards

[happygirl0580]

Hi all, I sent a letter to HO for an update regarding my application on 28th January I then called them today to know how long will it takes to hear from them the guy told that it will take 10 working get reply. I am for I've to wait when others has got their passports. Please what else can I do?

[happygirl0580]

Hey guyz just a quick question ..when do we call the council to book for a ceremony. .coz i called them today they said my name is not on their list of ceremonies lol...i thought its automatic. .pliz let me know thanx all

My friend called the same day

[ap007]

Last Update - as of 2 Feb 2015

No of applicants: 1 Adult
Eligibility Criteria : 3 yrs as a Spouse of British Citizen
Language criteria : Life in the UK test + NARIC certification
Method of application: NCS Reading
Date of application: 22 Dec 2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 24 Dec 2014 (Tracked via Royal Mail website)
Date of acknowledgment (Email and Mail): 8 Jan 2015 (Dated 5 Jan 2015)
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 5 Jan 2015
Date approval received: 2 Feb 2015 (Home Office Letter Dated 22 Jan 2015, Council Letter Dated 30 Jan 2015)
Date of ceremony: 5 Feb 2015

[mt5353az]

Eligibility criteria:3 years on Student visa 2 years spouse visa (Marrid to BC) and 8 months of ilr.
Method of application: NCS Bath and North East Somerset
Date of receipt by UKBA: 17.12.2014
Date of debit of fees: 21.12.14
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 22.12.14
Date of receipt of approval:
Date of Ceremony:

[everyday_4_u]

Method of Application: NCS
Date of Application: 21-01-2015
Eligibility Criteria : Spouse (3 years)
Application Received Date: 22-01-2015
Payment Method and Clearance: CC cleared on 29-01-2015
Date Of Acknowledgment: 02-02-2015 Letter dated (28-01-2015)
Approval: Waiting
Date Of Ceremony: Waiting

[bipsan]

Eligibility criteria: 5 yrs (Tier 1) + 1 yr ILR 
Method of application: NCS Brent 
Date of receipt by UKBA: 10-01-2015(DX Tracking)
Date of debit of fees: 19-01-2015 
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 18-01-2015
Date of receipt of approval: 30-01-2015 dated 25-01-2015 
Date of Ceremony: 03-02-2015

Good luck other waiting members..you ll get it soon too.

[slough_Boy]

Eligibility criteria: EEA Family Member + 1 Year PR Card
Language criteria met: Life in The UK+B1 English
Current nationality: Pakistan
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Hounslow
Date of application: 08/12/2014
Payment method: Credit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 09/12/2014 (Not sure)
Date of acknowledgement: 05/01/2015 (dated 29/12/2014 )
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 29/12/2014
Date approval received: Waiting
Date of ceremony: Waiting

[khillo17]

No of applicants: 2 Adults + 2 children
Method of Application: NCS
Eligibility Criteria : 5 ys + 1 ILR
Date of Application: 26/01/2015
Application Received Date: 27/01/2015
Payment Method and Clearance: cleared on 30/01/2015
Date Of Acknowledgment: Waiting
Approval: Waiting
Date Of Ceremony: Waiting

[kknb4082]

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 5yr + 1yr ILR
Method of application: NCS Trowbridge Wiltshire
Date of receipt by UKBA: 9/1/15
Date of debit of fees: 14/1/15
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: received 19/1/15 dated 15/1/15
Date of receipt of approval: received 2/2/15 dated 24/1/15
Date of Ceremony: 17/2/15

Amazingly fast service!

Good luck to everyone!

[pinina]

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 3yr spouse of BC
Method of application: NCS (Southwark)
Date of receipt by UKBA: 21 of January 2015
Date of debit of fees:
Date of receipt of acknowledgement:
Date of receipt of approval: 2 of February (Letter dated 24/01/2015)
Date of Ceremony: 9th of February


I need to check the other dates but I wanted to post it to say thank you for all your help.
I was pleasantly surprised of receiving the letter today, not even a month after I applied!

Hi Pinna , when did u call the council to book yoir ceremony. .coz my approval was done same dag as yours but called today my name is not on the list ..my borough is Newham.

Heya, I've called same day. They wanted to be there next day but I want two of my friends to go with me so I asked for next week. I'm in Southwark

[rc123]

Eligibility criteria: 5 years + 1 year ILR
Language criteria met: pbs calculator
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Walthamstow
Date Of Application : 13/1/2015
Payment Method : Debit Card
Date Of Receipt by UKBA : 14/1/2015
Date Of Debit Or Clearance of Fees : 21/1/2015
Date Of Acknowledgment : 23/1/2015
Date Approval Received : 27/01/2015
Date Of Ceremony :18/02/2015

[huqqapani]

January applications approvals are coming through thick and fast.

Not seen many December 2014 approvals yet.. so hard to predict HO's pattern of processing applications.

[PAK321]

Eligibility criteria: ILR+1 year [1 dependent]
Language criteria met: Life in The UK passed after 28th Oct 13+ Degree taught in English by university letter
Current nationality: Indian
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: North Shields, Newcastle
Date of application: 25/12/2014
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: NA
Date of acknowlegment: NA
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 31/12/2014
Date approval received: 31/01/2015 dated 23rd Jan
Date of Cermony: Not booked yet.

All the very best to all

thanks prda
you are very lucky.
wish us good luck

[PAK321]

January applications approvals are coming through thick and fast.

Not seen many December 2014 approvals yet.. so hard to predict HO's pattern of processing applications.

yes you are right, i applied 18/12/14, it looks like there is no criteria set by HO for processing time and they not doing any thing to improve their service and provide good customer service after earning huge amounts from us.
last year their was delays near about only seven days in renewing passport, it was big news on every media but for these delays no one questions them, they shouldn't take more than a week to decide

[pinina]

Sorry is taking far too much time to figure out how to edit my post (and I'm a website administrator, so usually quite good at this) so I just quoted myself to add the rest of the dates.

Application Timeline
Eligibility criteria: 3yr spouse of BC
Method of application: NCS (Southwark) 9/01/2015 but sent on the 12
Date of receipt by UKBA: 21 of January 2015
Date of debit of fees: 21 of January 2015
Date of receipt of acknowledgement: 19/01/2015
Date of receipt of approval: 2 of February (Letter dated 24/01/2015)
Date of Ceremony: 9th of February


I need to check the other dates but I wanted to post it to say thank you for all your help.
I was pleasantly surprised of receiving the letter today, not even a month after I applied!

[pinina]

Unbelievable
It took HO 3 days to approve your naturalisation
Congrats!!

Crazy! I won't complain though.
It might be because I did everything for them really took photocopies of every single page of every document and they didn't have much to do?

Who knows, 4 days.. amazing.

Thank you all!
This is a new door that opens after a very very hard time with an abusive husband that no longer "owns" me.

[PAK321]

I have requested FOI for naturalization process time, and asking why home office taking almost half year and more. what home office doing to improve service and many questions.

i dont know pasting the follow up my request link is ok here or not.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... tions_proc

Lets see what HO says, its unfair to take more than six months and hanging people in middle of nowhere.

[aumar]

I am one of early Sep applicants. Still waiting and it is agonisingly painful to see people getting decisions in weeks and here we are approaching the 6 months mark( soon). I just called and they said it's still under consideration. It's not that I'm unhappy for all the people getting decisions but I feel it's unfair to all of us stuck in this. Today I went through my AN form that I submitted and I couldn't find any information that could take them 5 months to verify. They were quite keen to charge me with a week time and then it appears they have archived my application.

A friend of mine said that my progressive enquiries every 10 days have caused delays in my application process. He says, my application would be moved backward every time I make enquiries on the progress. Is it true?

The other question is I have to travel next month and I have my passport and biometric ILR card. So I believe I can travel but I'm little concerned that would the outcome of my application have any affect on my return and when I arrive back at the airport they might start questioning me. I'm only going for couple of weeks or may be a month at full stretch.

Last question is I am so pessimist that I sometime fear that due to the recently introduced extensive checks, they might cancel my ILR. I don't have any reason for them to do so but just a fear because I heard they will try their best to stop people getting settlement and naturalisation. Can they really?

[Babloo85]

I made request to HO under freedom of information act about July/August applications. And look at the shocking figures they gave me today. They processed only 105 applications out of 4989.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ ... ing-613374

[benson147]

I am one of early Sep applicants. Still waiting and it is agonisingly painful to see people getting decisions in weeks and here we are approaching the 6 months mark( soon). I just called and they said it's still under consideration. It's not that I'm unhappy for all the people getting decisions but I feel it's unfair to all of us stuck in this. Today I went through my AN form that I submitted and I couldn't find any information that could take them 5 months to verify. They were quite keen to charge me with a week time and then it appears they have archived my application.

A friend of mine said that my progressive enquiries every 10 days have caused delays in my application process. He says, my application would be moved backward every time I make enquiries on the progress. Is it true?

The other question is I have to travel next month and I have my passport and biometric ILR card. So I believe I can travel but I'm little concerned that would the outcome of my application have any affect on my return and when I arrive back at the airport they might start questioning me. I'm only going for couple of weeks or may be a month at full stretch.

Last question is I am so pessimist that I sometime fear that due to the recently introduced extensive checks, they might cancel my ILR. I don't have any reason for them to do so but just a fear because I heard they will try their best to stop people getting settlement and naturalisation. Can they really?

You traveling will not affect your application long as you still meet the criteria of staying outside UK, i have been out of the country couple of times myself and never got asked at the airport where i why i went away, and its 6months now still waiting for a result, about your application been moved back everytime you call to ask about progress of it, i do not believe that,and your ilr will never be cancelled unless you have something hidden going on lol. i think the home office just decide application on random basis thats why people like me and are still waiting.

[rockstar1]

My timeline:
Eligibility criteria: 3 Years(Student+2 year BC spouse) ILR+ 3 months
Language criteria met: IELTS and LITUK
Current nationality: Pakistani
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Wandsworth
Date of application: 20/01/2015
Payment method: Credit Card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 21/01/2015
Date of acknowledgment: 03/2/2015 dated; 27/01/2015
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 27/01/2015
Date approval received: waiting
Date of ceremony: waiting

[rockstar1]

I am one of early Sep applicants. Still waiting and it is agonisingly painful to see people getting decisions in weeks and here we are approaching the 6 months mark( soon). I just called and they said it's still under consideration. It's not that I'm unhappy for all the people getting decisions but I feel it's unfair to all of us stuck in this. Today I went through my AN form that I submitted and I couldn't find any information that could take them 5 months to verify. They were quite keen to charge me with a week time and then it appears they have archived my application.

A friend of mine said that my progressive enquiries every 10 days have caused delays in my application process. He says, my application would be moved backward every time I make enquiries on the progress. Is it true?

The other question is I have to travel next month and I have my passport and biometric ILR card. So I believe I can travel but I'm little concerned that would the outcome of my application have any affect on my return and when I arrive back at the airport they might start questioning me. I'm only going for couple of weeks or may be a month at full stretch.

Last question is I am so pessimist that I sometime fear that due to the recently introduced extensive checks, they might cancel my ILR. I don't have any reason for them to do so but just a fear because I heard they will try their best to stop people getting settlement and naturalisation. Can they really?

Travelling won't effect your application as it has got nothing to do with your ILR or application. I myself had been away after submitting application to France and Spain for 12 days, and going for a long trip again next week and nobody asked me any questions. When i went to NCS, I was told that I can go abroad as long as I want but was advised try not to go for more than 2 weeks as Home office might send any correspondence so as long as somebody at the address and can check post it is pretty fine to go longer than 2 weeks.
About the application moving backward every time you call so I think its a joke which your friend might have made it to you. Home office do not deal with applications like that and they process the application in a random manner. some applications take longer because these days HO carries checks in your back country and it depends on the authorities there to respond back, so be patient and I hope you will hear very soon. I would suggest to call your council instead where you will be expecting to attend ceremony and tell them to call you if they receive any approval for you (council gets notification quicker than the applicant).
ILR can never be cancelled unless you breach any law or commit any serious crime ie: terrorism, murder etc...

[pawant]

Eligibility criteria: 1 Year WP, 5 Years Tier 2 + 1 1/2 year ILR
Applied along with my wife (5 Years dependent + 1 1/2 year ILR
Language criteria met: PBS printout, original non uk degree certs
Current nationality: Indian
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Preston, Lancashire
Date of application: 17/11/14
Payment method: debit card
Date of receipt by UKBA: 18/11/14
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 01/12/14
Date of acknowledgment: 08/12/14 (dated 28/11/14)
Date approval received: 17/01/15 (dated 10/01/15)!
Date of ceremony: 03/02/2015

[Kk1]

My timeline:
Eligibility criteria: spouse of British citizen
Language criteria met: NARIC+Life in UK test
Current nationality: Nigerian
Method of application: NCS
Council name if NCS used: Southwark
Date of application: 08/01/2015
Payment method: Debit Card
Date of acknowledgment: 16/01/2015(emai)
Date of debit or clearance of fees: 16/01/2015
Date approval received: 31/01/2015(dated 24/01/2015)
Date of ceremony: awaiting 19/02/15

In all it took less than 3weeks. Good luck to everyone still waiting